Category Archives: Israel and Jewish Affairs

Ottawa, ON – Today, the P5+1 announced that it has signed an agreement with Iran. Under the terms of the agreement, Iran will receive extensive sanctions relief in return for temporary limitations on aspects of its illicit nuclear program.
In response, David J. Cape, Chair of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), issued the following statement:
“While we share the goal of a diplomatic solution to this crisis, the Iranian regime has a long record of exploiting diplomacy as a cover to advance its nuclear program. The success of today’s agreement depends on Iran’s actions, not its words.
“The Government of Canada has been a world leader in countering Iran’s nuclear program by severing diplomatic ties with Tehran, engaging our allies, and holding the regime to account at the UN. Canada’s two major opposition parties have supported sanctions and called for strong verification measures to determine Iranian compliance, a non-partisan consensus that should be reaffirmed in the wake of today’s announcement. We urge officials in Ottawa to ensure that any relief of independent Canadian sanctions is strictly contingent on tangible and significant Iranian progress in fulfilling its obligations. We also trust that Canada’s position, now and in the future, continues to reflect an understanding and consideration of the legitimate security concerns of the Israeli people.
“Today’s announcement by no means relieves the international community of the need to hold Iran accountable for its persecution and repression of its own people at home and its promotion of terrorism abroad. Tehran continues to abuse the human rights of its own citizens, particularly women, religious minorities, political dissidents, and LGBT Iranians. Internationally, Iran is the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. The regime continues to train, fund, and arm terrorists throughout the Middle East, with particularly disastrous results for the people of Syria, Iraq, Gaza, Lebanon, and Yemen. It has been responsible for deadly terrorist attacks against Jewish community and Israeli targets around the globe, while regularly calling for the annihilation of Israel.
“Hasty sanctions relief will no doubt be used by Iran to fund this reprehensible agenda. Regardless of today’s announcement, Canada and the international community must continue to use economic and diplomatic tools to counter the threat posed by the regime to regional peace, global security, and domestic human rights.”

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The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) is the advocacy agent of the Jewish Federations of Canada-UIA. CIJA is a national, non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of Jewish life in Canada by advancing the public policy interests of Canada’s organized Jewish community. www.cija.ca
For more information, to arrange an interview, or receive follow-up analysis, please contact:
Martin Sampson
Director of Communications
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA)
613-219-3500
msampson@cija.ca
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Ottawa, ON – Today, the State of Israel announced the first wave of funding for the recently launched Grand Challenges Israel program. Modeled after Grand Challenges Canada, the ten selected Israeli innovation projects – in diverse research fields such as cancer, malaria, aquaculture, and wheelchair technology – were unveiled at a meeting between Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs John Baird and his Israeli counterpart, Minister Avigdor Lieberman.

The Center for Jewish History is a cultural institution, independent research facility and destination for the exploration of Jewish history and heritage. It is home to five partner organizations: American Jewish Historical Society, American Sephardi Federation, Leo Baeck Institute, Yeshiva University Museum and YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.

The partners’ archival collections span more than 700 years of history and total over 500,000 volumes and 100 million documents (in 23 languages and 52 alphabet systems). The collections also include thousands of artworks, textiles, ritual objects, recordings, films and photographs. http://www.cjh.org/

There are terror attacks, and there are pogroms. The attack at a Jerusalem synagogue this week that killed four rabbis was a pogrom. It was an attack motivated not by politics but by religious hatred; it was directed not at Israelis but at Jews. Read More..

One nation to be envied

I recently returned from a speaking tour in Canada and the US, talking mainly but not exclusively to Jewish groups. Two things in particular struck me about Canada. The first was the strange experience of being in a country led by a leader who actually leads.

I have long admired Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, for his outspoken support for Israel and moral courage. I remarked as much at a number of my events. Every time, the audience applauded fervently before I finished what I was saying and even leapt to its feet in its emotion.

True, these were mainly conservatively minded audiences. Even so, can you imagine British gatherings displaying such enthusiasm over David Cameron? Quite.

The second thing was the alarm over the twin issues of Islamic terrorism and campus anti-Israel activity. A few days before I arrived, Canada had been horrified by terrorist attacks in Montreal and Ottawa. At the same time, it seems many Canadian universities – like campuses in Britain – are facilitating the intimidation of Jewish students, who run a gauntlet of verbal attacks and threatening behaviour in a relentless campaign of demonisation against Israel.

Christian priest tells UN: Israel is the only Middle Eastern country not persecuting its Christians

In Defence of Zionism

Gadi Taub is a prominent Israeli historian, author, screenwriter, political commentator and Senior Lecturer in the School Public Policy and the Department of Communications at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He spoke to a Fathom Forum about the struggle for the soul of Zionism. The ‘Zionism of liberty’, based on the principle of the self-determination of peoples, fights for hegemony with a messianic ‘Zionism of land’, which, he argued drives the settler ideology. Taub made the case for liberal Zionism. Zionism is seriously misconceived outside of Israel. It…

Update 2014-04-28: CIJA Engages Ukrainian and Russian Embassies

On Friday, CIJA Chair David Koschitzky wrote to the Ambassadors of Ukraine and Russia to convey serious concerns over antisemitic incidents in the wake of the Ukrainian crisis. While non-state groups and individuals may be responsible for these acts, both governments have a responsibility to ensure that Ukraine’s Jewish community is not harassed by forces on either side. The letters may be found at the links below.